"AI can capture a large number of micro-expressions and generate some effects that I cannot perform myself, but human performance is like π, endless, and there is a soul hidden in it that cannot be calculated by the algorithm." Actor and director Xu Zheng said at the 4th International Forum on Performance Education of Shanghai Theater Academy and Shanghai University International Young Scholars Forum on the 12th.
The theme of the forum is "China's Independent Knowledge System for Performance in the Digital Intelligence Era: Technological Change, Teaching Innovation and Artistic Exploration". Domestic and foreign academics and industry celebrities conducted in-depth discussions on the boundaries of performance, teaching transformation and talent training paths in the context of AI.
Forum site. Photo provided by the organizer
Exploring a new paradigm in performance teaching
Xie Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Theater Academy, said in his keynote speech that technological iteration reshapes the logic of artistic production. The faster technology develops, the more important it is for performance education to consolidate its foundation and cultivate its talents and adhere to equal emphasis on morality and art; at the same time, it is also necessary to actively explore new artistic forms such as XR dramas, VR works, and robot dramas. The independent knowledge system of Chinese performance cannot be constructed out of thin air. It must be rooted in vivid local drama practices, look back at tradition, face the future, and respond to the questions of the times.
Feng Yuanzheng, vice chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association and chairman of the Beijing Dramatists Association, shared through video that the core of performance education is educating people. Schools should open up the classroom and the stage, deepen the linkage between academies and troupes, and introduce front-line creative experience into the classroom. In the face of AI, young creators can make good use of tools, but they must also maintain the determination to independently interpret texts, make independent choices, and study the laws of art with concentration.
Xu Zheng pointed out that the immediate reaction generated by the live interaction between actors, and the subtle and delicate emotions in the body and breath are the unique charm of performance. The more important role of drama education is to guide learners to experience life inwardly and complete expression in real interactions.
Huang Lung-bin, dean of the School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, believes that AI can assist script reading, character analysis, and virtual rehearsal, but the focus of education is still on cultivating imagination, empathy, and emotional connections between people.
Exploring border risks together
"Technology determines 'what can be done', and aesthetics determines 'why we do it.' Aesthetics, value judgments and human understanding can only be completed by people." Hu Qiang, president of the Beijing Film Academy, believes that performance teaching in the AI era must shift from skill training to artistic creativity cultivation, and make good use of classic training such as practice without objects and prescribed situations to guide students to establish aesthetic judgments. The construction of China's independent performance knowledge system must be based on local first-line creation and refining theories.
Jan Schutte, a professor at Shanghai Opera and an international director, said that AI tends to give certain results, eliminating the process of trial and error and gradual polishing in creation. The value of actors' creations lies precisely in this uncertain exploration process.
Zhang Hui, director of the Institute of Performing Arts of the Beijing Film Academy, pointed out that AI can reproduce movements and simulate emotions, but it is difficult to achieve unique physical expression, form a personal aesthetic style, and produce creative expression on the spot. "AI is responsible for standards and reproduction, and actors are responsible for soul and birth."
Zhang Ali, dean of the School of Film at Northwest University, reminded that in building an independent knowledge system, we must be wary of homogeneous, refined and divorced performances brought by algorithms, encourage the creation of workers' images that are rooted in life and have a smoky atmosphere, and adhere to a people-centered creative direction.
Evan Ionulis, dean of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, said that the school is standardizing the use of AI and clarifying usage rules and signature requirements. AI can assist scripts, stage design and paperwork, but algorithms cannot replace the sense of reality brought by live interactions with real people. Brian Kate, dean of the Graduate School at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Emily Roxworthy, dean of the School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California, also proposed that AI is suitable as a creative assistant and that over-reliance on fixed creative models should be avoided. Drama education should focus on actors, guide learners to make good use of digital tools, and protect the humanistic qualities of on-site communication.
Jointly build a new ecosystem of performance education
Keith van Ostrum, a professor at Shanghai Opera and an internationally renowned photographer, suggested that even if AI is used for visual processing, it must be based on real-life shots, retaining the actors’ original rhythm, action logic, and emotional context. The initiative in creation and interpretation is always in the hands of humans.
Yang Yang, director of the Department of Literature and Art at the School of Drama, Film and Television at Communication University of China, added that technology continues to expand the expression space of the stage and camera, but performance teaching must still be based on character actions and body expressions. Foreign experience can be learned from, but cannot be copied directly. Human creativity must be preserved to avoid performances being solidified by algorithmic templates.
Experts from the Performance Expert Advisory Committee of Shanghai Theater Academy were hired. Photo provided by the organizer
The list of Shanghai Theater Academy’s Performance Expert Advisory Committee was announced at the forum and a letter of appointment ceremony was held. Feng Yuanzheng serves as the chairman of the committee, and Yu Hewei, Xu Zheng, and Huang Longbin serve as deputy directors. The committee will provide professional consultation, strategic research and development suggestions around discipline construction, talent training, artistic creation, international exchanges and other directions.
The Shanghai Theater Academy simultaneously launched the "Adhere to the Ontology of Performance and Open Up a New Realm of Digital Intelligence - An Initiative on AI Empowering Theater, Film and Television Performance Teaching", calling for "reconstructing a new ecology of theater, film and television performance teaching based on real-life performance and supplemented by AI." (over)
